


the sun and the moon

by respira



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Gen, also!! jace is trans, i love these siblings!!! so much!! there's not enough content with these two, they love each other and they comfort each other, warning: mentions of valentine morgenstern
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-21
Updated: 2016-12-21
Packaged: 2018-09-10 21:00:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8939116
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/respira/pseuds/respira
Summary: At that moment, Isabelle thinks, I have to protect him.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [for you (there's nothing in this world i wouldn't do)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/8918428) by [sapphfics](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sapphfics/pseuds/sapphfics). 



> i chose that title bc i thought of artemis and apollo and i thought that u couldn't get a pair of siblings more iconic than them so there u go!

A small boy walks into the New York Institute one day. He looks at the ground as he slowly follows Maryse. He looks clean but he smells like smoke, even from so far away. His hands are behind his back but his shoulders were moving—he was probably playing with his hands. Maryse starts speaking but she isn’t listened to, not at the moment.

Maryse says, “This is Jace.” She whispers, “Jace was the name, right? Not the other one?”

The boy looks up for the first time since he’s entered the Institute, and he nods. He looks back down, but not at the floor—he looks right at Isabelle. His eyes are blue and brown and his hair falls naturally, not having been styled by anyone. He’s frowning slightly, as if he’s unsure if he’s welcome here.

At that moment, Isabelle thinks, _I have to protect him._

* * *

Izzy into the room with her lips pursed and her eyebrows furrowed. She takes a chest out from under her bed, throws it on top of the bed, and opens it brashly. Izzy takes a book from the desk, and another one, and another one, and throws them all into the chest. She takes off her coat and throws that into the chest as well. Before she can start crying, Izzy furiously rubs her eyes before looking back up.

Jace asks, “What happened?”

He almost regrets asking when Izzy replies, “It’s not going to work. My Ravener vaccine. It—It’s not—”

She doesn’t cry. Jace almost wants her to. He always told Jace not to cry—it was a sign of weakness, he had always said. But Jace can see that Izzy needs to cry. He can see it in the way her throat bobs, the way she constantly swallows, the way she refuses to look him in the eye.

Jace gets up from the bed and carefully takes out her medicinal books and her lab coat. He carefully puts the sleeves back into place and puts the coat on Izzy’s shoulders. Izzy slowly puts her arms through the sleeves. She turns to look at Jace and he rubs her shoulders.

“You can make that vaccine, Iz,” Jace whispers. “I believe in you.”

A single tear runs down Isabelle’s cheek.

Jace thinks, _I have to protect her._

* * *

Jace stops training and stands still for a moment. He takes a deep breath, adjusts the staff’s position in his hand, and he closes his eyes. Then he starts beating the dummy like his life depends on it.

His training has gone on for too long. It’s well into the afternoon and Jace has been wearing his binder since he woke up this morning. Jace is burning himself out and Izzy wants to stop him but she can’t bring herself to open her mouth, to take a step forward.

Jace begins to grunt with every hit he lands, hitting the dummy so hard he might just knock its head off. Isabelle starts to call his name with every hit, but he can’t hear her. Tears start streaming down his cheeks but he doesn’t stop. Izzy gets as close as she can without being hit by the staff and calls him one last time.

Jace falls to his knees and starts sobbing.

Izzy quickly follows suit and holds her brother in her arms. She hums softly, kisses his head, lets Jace cry all he needs to before he decides he wants to speak.

“ _¿Qué pasó?_ ” Izzy asked. “You want to talk about it?”

Jace sniffled, resting his head in the crook of Izzy’s neck. “Mom wants me to the best of the Shadowhunters. She wants me to be the best soldier, the best warrior, but I—I—I can’t. I can’t handle—I can’t—I don’t—I don’t wanna disappoint her. I can’t do that to Mom, but I—I can’t.”

Izzy closed her eyes and leaned her head against Jace’s. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.

Jace continued to cry silently.

He doesn’t deal well with incredibly high expectations. Maryse expects too much of her children, especially Jace, and sometimes Jace can’t handle it. He’s only seventeen. He’s only a boy.

Izzy thinks, _I have to protect him._

* * *

Maryse was never the type of parent to confront her children in public; she always waited until nighttime, or at least until they’ve reached their bedrooms. Jace flinches despite knowing his mother isn’t speaking to him.

“Isabelle,” Maryse said softly, almost pleading, “I can’t afford to have you continue interfering with Fae affairs.”

“How am I interfering?” asked Isabelle, although she said it in _that voice_. Jace knew his sister like the palm of his hand—she knew exactly what their mother meant by ‘interfering.’

“The Seelie you’re acquainted with,” Maryse said with a small sigh, “you need to stop seeing them.”

“ _Mamá,_ with all due respect, I can see whoever I want,” Isabelle said calmly. “My romantic relationship with Meliorn does not interfere with any of our political relations with the Fair Folk.”

“You can’t be too cautious,” Maryse tried.

“I can handle this,” Isabelle said. “Don’t you trust me?”

A pause. Jace couldn’t see what was going on, but he knew what this meant. Maryse would sigh, close her eyes, and look down. Jace heard footsteps getting fainter and fainter as they went down the corridor.

There goes the answer to Isabelle’s question.

When Izzy walks into the room, Jace immediately pats the spot on the bed next to him. Izzy collapses almost immediately, leaning into his shoulder and letting out a deep sigh.

Jace kissed the top of her head. “I’m sorry,” he whispered.

“It’s fine.” Izzy sounded choked up, but Jace didn’t comment on that. “At least Mom has you. And Alec. And Max.”

“Izzy—”

Izzy sniffled, wiping her eyes quickly. “I’m fine, okay? _No te preocupes._ ”

Jace looks at her with a slight frown, but he nods. Izzy smiles sadly before leaning into his shoulder again.

Jace thinks, _I have to protect her._

* * *

“Isabelle—”

“Victor, _please_ —”

“I can’t let you do this,” Victor said sadly.

“You don’t _understand_ ,” Izzy cried. “My brother is _missing_. I need to go find him.”

Victor sighed, walking away from behind his desk so he could stand directly in front of Isabelle. Tears started running down her cheeks and he frowned.

“Your brother has disappeared with Valentine Morgenstern and the Mortal Cup.”

“It’s not what you think,” Isabelle said firmly.

“I want to believe you,” Victor replied. “But I’m under strict orders from the Clave to keep this Institute on lockdown. Had it been under any other circumstances, I would let you go out and find Jace yourself.”

Isabelle let out a sob and Victor’s frown deepened. He stepped a little bit closer, slowly, afraid that Isabelle would reject his attempt at comforting her. He rested his hands on her shoulders and tried to look her in the eye.

“The Clave is taking care of this,” Victor said softly. “We’re going to find Jace, we’re going to find Valentine, and we’re going to put the Mortal Cup back in its rightful place.”

Isabelle shook her head. “He’s not safe,” she choked out. “Jace is in trouble and who knows what _he_ might do to him, Victor!”

“You can’t go,” Victor warned. “I didn’t want to threaten to de-rune every Shadowhunter that dares to leave the premises, but that’s what the Clave is asking me to do. Isabelle—” Victor purses his lips, looking away for a moment. “I want to help you as much as I can, but you have to cooperate. These are the Clave’s orders.”

“The Clave isn’t looking to save my brother. They think he’s a traitor.”

Victor shakes his head slightly. “I’ve already warned you, Isabelle,” he says solemnly.

Isabelle says, “I have to protect him.”


End file.
